There are people who love the outdoors, and then there are those who LIVE the outdoors.

Dave Field (above) was recently named one of L.L. Bean’s Outdoor Heroes for his five decades of work with the Maine Appalachian Trail Club. That’s right: He’s been working the woods since the ‘50s, and is currently still trekking into the forest near Rangeley to groom and mark about six miles of the trail assigned to him that runs through the area.

He’s received numerous local, state and national awards for his work, but he’s pleased with the recent recognition from Bean. “I am not looking for publicity but the award comes with $5,000 for the club. So I am happy that I was included.”

The Outdoor Heroes is a new Bean program to recognize veterans whose work helps others. Certainly Field, 67, certainly comes under that heading.

He has cut brush and cleared trails for decades; he has served as an officer of the state and national ATC organizations. The Maine portion of the trail, which winds down to Georgia, is about 280 miles long with perhaps 30 miles of side trails and approaches.

A native of Phillips, even his professional career centered around trails and trees. Holder of a doctorate in forestry management, he was a professor and ran the forestry program at the University of Maine for several decades before retiring.

He says one of the greatest tasks for a Maine guide or ATC supervisor is education. “Some people really don’t know what a hike through the woods is going to be like,” said Field. “Early in my career, when I was with the forest service in Gorham, N.H., I was part of teams that would bring bodies out – some dead, some alive – from the mountains where inexperienced tourists would go. We don’t have much of that in our portion of Maine, but we are always trying to improve the trails, make them easier to follow.”

When he enters to woods to work on the trails, he takes close to 70 pounds in gear (chain saw, gas, tools) along with him. Payment is minimal – usually a small allowance for gas money to get to his site – but the reward is considerable.

“I started taking trips and helping clear blowdowns in the mid-‘50s, near Stratton Mountain and Horn Pond,” he said. “I loved the work, and knowing that it might be helping others. I’m proud of how the Appalachian Trail has remained a big part of Maine. Knowing the people are enjoying the experience makes the work worthwhile.”

Within a week I will be planting bittersweet, enemy of serious gardeners.

I plan to put it alongside my glorious well, shown here. (An aside: I plan to embellish the water-drawing capabilities of the well but this is what it looked like last fall).

Most real gardeners don't like bittersweet. But those are green-thumbed careerists who can make stuff grow. I have a brown thumb, and if a weed will take hold I will plant it.

I have tried morning glories and Dutchman's Pipe in the past but they didn't grow. (My time-honored excuse is too much shade but it must be more than that).

Anyway, within a week or so the bittersweet will be lovingly put into the earth. And if it grows near the well, I might try a pergola.

(Dissents are welcome. Does anyone know a better vine that I can plant - that will grow?)

The Allagash River has been called one of the country's most endangered waterways, and there's the rub: Must we stay off rivers in order to save them?

Your Scribe recently read on a "green" blog that an advocacy group called American Rivers has labeled the Allagash one of the nation's most threatened waterways.

This isn't like the '70s, when the Androscoggin and the Kennebec were called two of the most polluted rivers in the country. They were. And from there, Ed Muskie got inspired. He built a career and the rivers got cleaner - or vice versa - thanks to his Clean Water Act.

Here's the odd part about the Allagash situation, at least if you like the Maine outdoors. The river is not polluted. It just has the potential to be enjoyed by "too many" people.

The association says that there are as many as 12 (rudimentary) roads to the river, which is about 92 miles long. And in a scary use of statistics, the Boston Globe blogger says "conservationists say the growing number of access points are an open door to more than 50 million people who are only a day's drive away from the corridor. Originally, only two drive-up access points were authorized on the waterway."

This is the conundrum: Must a "wild" river be off-limits to canoeists and campers? Is a Maine river endangered just because a few hundred people a year have the initiative to find their way to the water, and dip the paddles into the pristine water?

It's inappropriate that press releases go out from American Rivers suggesting that the politicians should get organized, and legislate that people should stay away from the Allagash. And it's deceptive to suggest that 50 million people have potential access to the waterway.

Instead of making ominous implications, representatives of American Rivers should count the number of sportsmen who actually use it. Is it really threatened by overuse?

But assessing the actual use of the river would take planning and work. It's easier to write a press release implying that the Allagash is being damaged by overuse.

Where's the proof?

Here are some random thoughts while waiting very impatiently for the snow to disappear and the ground to dry:

How about this for a job replacement strategy pursuant to the disapperance of lumbering and paper-mill jobs: medical. A national newspaper picked the Bangor area to analyze, and found that the area had lost 3,700 manufacturing and lumber jobs in the last decade. But it added 3,500 jobs in healthcare.

I often think about those in the lumber and papermaking trade. One reason is that there are dozens of small wood-crafting shops in my area of Franklin County, and I wonder if they can somehow prosper (or at least subsist). Also, I once lived on the main thoroughfare of Skowhegan, and was literally bounced out of bed when the big logging trucks rumbled through. (Pictured above are woodlands and open space in my corner of Cabin Country).

Of course, not many woodsmen can suddenly turn in the chainsaw to become caring nurses or well-trained medical techs. But I thought the statistic was quite provocative, and perhaps instructive for young people thinking about their futures if they want to stay in Maine.

NEW TOPIC: I got a great comment from a reader who (kindly) chided me on my proposed purchases at the cabin. To wit, why pay for mulch when a town recycling center or a rented chipper will provide the same material at little cost? And why buy stones for the driveway when you live in Maine.

(An aside: The best collection of stones I ever thought about purloining was at Campobello on the Canadian border. But that's a long way to go for one load.)

(Another aside: The property up the (dirt) road from me has an aging stone wall that is falling apart. I thought that if I moved some of the hefty, moss-covered rocks to my property, that stone fence might look better. My (more) moralistic kids say I shouldn't "relocate" those stones, no matter how ancient or unclaimed they appear.

NEW TOPIC - My key gardening tactic this spring could be pots. I want to put lillies, black-eyed Susans, and impatiens into pots. Maybe Terry the Motivated Renter can water them when I am not there. (Actually, Terry the Motivated Renter was so motivated to stay on our little road that he got a loan, and had a (tiny) house built.)

BIG GOAL FOR SUMMER: I want to hire a bush plane to fly over the Maine wilderness, northwest from Moosehead. If Maine is 90 percent wilderness as they say, I will not have seen much without an aerial trip over the miles of forests that don't have roads.

A day after sending in the 1040 to the IRS, Your Scribe is pondering how to spend the refund. I assume I'll get about $1,000 back.

Here we go:

$100 for mulch. Is that high? I plan to put newspaper down on areas of weed growth, and cover it with mulch. It seems like that would buy plenty of mulch.

$200 for bushes and plants. In the past I said I wasn't going to try to beautify the property, shown above. "It's a cabin, not a house in the suburbs." But during moments of cabin fever this winter, I read a dozen magazines on how to improve your garden and grounds. I'm a convert! My flowers for the shade have arrived. In coming weeks (maybe months the way the snow is staying) I will buy bushes. (An aside: I hate to go to Wal-Mart but it's so much cheaper).

$100 for a metal bench. Now that I have a well, I must put a bench nearby.

$200 for two twin beds. This is low, but my plan is to rent a truck, and find something free on Craig's List. Yes, this is a big variable. If I drive to Fort Kent to get a couple free beds, that might not be a savings.

$100 for small stones. These help to create a transition from the driveway to the cabin. Probably unnecessary but I have been doing it every year.

$200 for tree work, building a shed for dry wood. I must take down some rotten trees near the cabin. And I want to have a small protected shed in which to put dry firewood. I think I will call Kevin the Well Digger. He did a fine job on the well, and he's cut wood before.

I may even have a little money left over - and that's before the government's Economic Incentive check arrives.

This could be a lively spring season at the old cabin!

When it comes to plowing the (dirt) road to my cabin, there is a Catch-22 involved. The town says no, because it's their contention that no one inhabits the camp in the winter. I say that I don't go there because I can't reach it. It is not plowed.

Here is what the road looked like last week. It is a public road, and the town plows most of it because there are about seven houses there. OK. They are year-round homes. I fall into the pejorative classification of "seasonal."

Kevin the Well Digger, who used to be Kevin the Road Commissioner, says there would be problems plowing to my driveway. It can't be seen here but it is about 150 yards down on the right.

He says one problem is that the big trucks would have nowhere to turn around. The truck now turns in the wide driveway of my neighbor. But my drive is narrow, and it could be trouble. Also, I have a (thin) aluminum pipe over the culvert and I think it might cave in under a big weight.

Kevin also says that if the road gets "too good," it will invite landowners to consider building houses down past me. Actually, houses are going up each year on my once anonymous road. There have been five in the last four years, suggesting that my little piece of "wilderness" isn't very wild.

(An aside: My daydream is to build closer to the river. But I'd have to sell the cabin itself to do that, and that seems self-defeating. Also, it is about 1,600 feet from the road to the river, and the cost to get materials to the river's edge would be prohibitive.)

I guess it's not in the cards to have the road plowed so I can escape the "seasonal" designation for an "all-year" status.

I know one thing. If I were the road commissioner, I would not want to plow this dark, narrow corridor during the middle of a raging storm. Or even after it was over . . .

They say that the rivers are going to crest big-time in coming weeks, and Your Scribe agrees. Here is the Sandy River in Franklin County, often quite tranquil. But it moving fast here, and pushing at its boundries.

The snow on the shores indicates that it is still difficult to get to the water for a few casts. That will change, of course, but the first week of fishing season has been a slow one.

(An aside: I always claim I can't catch trout but this fast-moving water - aided by a generous stocking program - indicates that there should be trout here.)

(Aside No. 2 - When I worked in Louisiana at the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the streams and small tributaries would frequently overflow. That action would flush out the crawfish - and make for scary driving. I didn't mind squashing a few crawdaddies but local residents would amble along the sides of the road picking up the potentially tasty morsals made for hazardous driving.)

This is a great season to ski - but clearly we are not yet at an optimum time for fishing.

Preserving and enhancing Maine’s outdoors does not happen without the commitment of people, and thus L.L. Bean has launched its Outdoor Heroes Award program to recognize those who are making contributions to the appreciation of our natural resources.

One hero is Greg Ponte, of West Gardiner, (pictured above) who for years has been a leader, board member and catalyst of Trout Unlimited in Maine. About five years ago he stepped up his activity, and headed a team that launched the Maine Trout Unlimited Trout Camp on the upper Kennebec River.

The camp, which inhabits the Evergreens Campground in Solon, hosts 12 campers each year between the ages of 13-17. Acceptance into the program is based solely on the application, which essentially asks teens to explain why they really want to spend a week learning fly-fishing. This year the co-ed camp runs from June 22-27.

Note: Applications can be accessed on the website: www.troutcamp.tumaine.org. They are due April 15.

Ponte, 54, recalls he fished from the time he was a tot. “My family is Portuguese, so we went fishing. I learned to love the sport early.”

He attended Maine Maritime Academy then joined the Merchant Marine, in part so he could retire young enough to enjoy time fishing. He left that service nine years ago, and has spent much of his time promoting and teaching fly-fishing to everyone from school students to disabled veterans.

About five years ago he was an observer at a trout camp in Pennsylvania. He thought the idea could be imported to Maine, and enlisted the support of L.L. Bean to help get the program started. This will be its fifth year, and at $275 (subsidized) a week it is a bargain.

“Some kids have fished before; others have never tried it,” said Ponte, executive director of the camp. “That’s part of the excitement, to see youngsters learn and enjoy the experience.”

Dawn fishing is optional but the 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. period is required. Youngsters land a variety of salmon and trout, with most being returned as part of the catch-and-release discipline. A few, though, are dissected for scientific purposes so students can learn the “inner workings” of the fish.

L.L. Bean has made a major commitment with equipment and gear. Patagonia, another retail denizen of Freeport, is also a supporter. About 10 of the 12 campers generally hail from Maine, though there are no specific guidelines on geography. An impartial panel picks the campers based the essay and a recommendation from a teacher.

Ponte says the thrill for him is watching the campers interact and learn. “When they arrive, they don’t know each other and are pretty tentative. By the end of the week, they are buddies and having a lot of fun. They learn about fishing, but they also learn about responsibility of being in the outdoors and helping to appreciate and improve it. It’s been very rewarding to get this program started, and see all the fun that these young people have.”

Now that sounds like a hero, doesn’t it?